Ways To Meet
by otakulove67
Summary: Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia meet at a boring dinner party one night. After finding out that they're starting at the same highschool, their relationship starts to change. Please R&R XD IchiRuki, and I suck at summaries XD
1. Prologue

**About this Chapter: This chapter…. isn't a chapter. It's the prologue. It's mostly introducing the character's different situations. Please read and review! Enjoy XD**

**Disclaimer: It's funny how people assume that just because you're writing a story with certain characters that means that you own the characters. I don't own crap. Thanks XD**

XDXDXDXD

"Rukia, you need to make sure that you're on your best behavior tonight" Byakuya says. "The guests at this dinner are all elite people in different lines of work. It is for the prestigious and wealthy, so you must not make a fool of yourself."

"Yes, Byakuya." I say, resisting the strong impulse to roll my eyes. He, as a very important business man, was invited to attend a large dinner party consisting of all important people in the area from all different lines of work. There will be doctors, lawyers, business men, politicians, and so many more. Along with the important people themselves, the people were invited to bring one family member. As the only family member in Kuchiki Byakuya's home, he is bringing me. I already know that it will be horribly boring, and I'm not looking forward to it even slightly, but at least it will be better than staying at home and having the creepy maids look after me every single second.

"Now, it started twenty minutes ago, and it will take about ten minutes to get there. Half an hour late seems acceptable. Just hurry up and come out when you are done putting on your shoes so that we don't end up being rudely late." Byakuya says, and he exits our home, leaving me to put on my heels.

I slip on my shoes and stand up, viewing the world from a higher point than normal because of the two inch heel. I take a step forward and look at myself in the mirror, deciding that I look professional enough to make Byakuya happy, cute enough to make myself happy, and covered up enough to not make the perverted men that will inevitably be at the dinner happy. I'm wearing a black dress with black lace sleeves that go halfway down my arm, and the skirt of the dress goes slightly above my knees.

I walk out to the car and get in the back, Byakuya up front next to the driver. We drive away to the party while I anticipate the boredom I know is to come.

XDXDXDXD

We arrive at the party without problem, and before I can open up my door a man in a suit and hat opens it for me. I smile up at him; he's an older, pleasant looking man, and I get out of the car, the driver driving off as soon as I'm out. I look over to see Byakuya already chatting politely with some important looking person. He sees me looking and introduces me to the person he's talking to. I don't really listen to his name, and end up looking around while they discuss the economy. When they're done talking, we move inside a large mansion, going into a humungous room full of men in suits with women in short dresses. There are a few important women, but they're all in black pants and a shirt, none are wearing the short dresses the men's escorts are.

I look around for someone my age, but the only people I see are older than me. There's a man of about twenty, so I move to talk to him—he's likely to be nicer to talk to than the perverted old men (who have already found me)—but as I start to move away, Byakuya grabs my shoulder and introduces me to someone else who's name I don't bother remembering. The younger man sees this, and I glance over to see him smile at me, almost mockingly.

I turn back to make small talk with the man I was just introduced to, acting like I understand the political terms he uses; I recognize them all—Byakuya makes me study things like politics and business—but I don't remember what they mean. We continue the evening just walking around, talking to everyone possible, and after a certain point I've met so many people that I start to feel very overwhelmed.

Finally some food is served, and people start to stop coming up to us as frequently. I expect it to be a formal dinner, everyone sitting around a huge table and eating dinner in courses, but instead the food is served on a large table and people go up to the table and get something then disperse around the room going to little tables scattered everywhere or just eating standing around.

After about another half an hour of standing around, neither of us eating anything, I turn to ask Byakuya if we might be able to go soon—no one's around, so it's the best time to get the idea of going home into his head—when someone else walks up to say something to us.

There are two people; one is a man with a chiseled looking face, rather boxy build but still very handsome. He looks older than Byakuya by maybe fifteen years or so, but when I look at his happy facial expression and the matching one on Byakuya's face and I know that, despite their difference in age, they know each other very well. Next to and slightly behind this man stands a moody looking teenage boy who seems about my age but practically double my height. He has the brightest hair I've ever seen—it's _orange_—and he's wearing suit pants with a purple t shirt and an open shirt jacket on top. He's very cute, and I fee l myself blushing when I see that he's looking at me.

I only notice after Byakuya says my name a couple of times that he's trying to introduce me to the man and the boy.

"This is Kurosaki Ishiin, and his son, Kurosaki Ichigo." Byakuya says, and I shake their hands in turn.

"Nice to meet you." I say. Kurosaki-sensei smiles brightly, but Ichigo-san just nods and says nothing.

"This is my adopted sister, Kuchiki Rukia." Byakuya says. I find out that Kurosaki-sensei is a doctor, and that he has two young daughters, but because only one family member was invited he left them at home.

After listening to stories about how Kurosaki-sensei and Byakuya met each other—something to do with a late plane and a cup if spilled coffee (surprisingly Byakuya was the one who spilled the coffee)—the two move away, leaving me to make more small talk with the people Byakuya introduce me to.

The eating frenzy is mostly over, so now we have so much more time to talk to people, and even more are arriving. I talk to at least thirty more people, answering the same questions over and over again—where do you go to school? What is your favorite class? What profession are you looking into for the future? I always answer the first one truthfully—I used to go to a private school, but I'm starting a new highschool because the old one isn't good enough in Byakuya's eyes—but the other two I lie about; I always take the person's profession and try and guess what class would have been their favorite and answer with that, and I would never tell someone the truth about what I want to be when I grow up—not even Byakuya knows. I want to teach astronomy when I grow up, but Byakuya says that teachers don't make very much money, and that there are already so many people that want to be teachers that the world doesn't need more, and also he thinks that studying the starts isn't important until it will save the world from dying. Because of this, I always tell people that I want to work under Byakuya when I get older.

After repeating myself over and over, my head starts to feel light from being in the small room full of people, so I tell Byakuya and he lets me go out onto a balcony overlooking the intricate front yard of the host. I look up at the sky and see the moon, almost completely full, looking at me. It's very beautiful, and actually, the moon is what got me interested in astronomy. There's something about it that seems so majestic that I can't help but love and want to study it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Someone asks from behind me. I turn around to see the younger man that I saw at beginning of the party walking over to me. From where we're standing, we're completely out of view of everyone in the part because of the way the balcony's made, and for some reason I don't feel safe.

"Y-Yeah." I say, smiling. He smiles back at me, still walking forward, and something about his smile seems creepy and lustful, like a crazed animal looking at its prey. He continues to walk forward and places his hand on my shoulder, close to me neck.

I shiver from the contact and try to back away, but I'm pressed up against the railing of the balcony and can't move.

"Oh, are you cold?" He asks me, still smiling. "If you want, I know somewhere inside we could go, alone, where you could be warm. He says bending close to me and trying to press his lips against mine. I push him away with all of my force, but he's much stronger than me. Since physical strength doesn't work, I try to yell, hoping that someone will hear me even through the loud din of the party, but he presses his lips against mine to stifle me. I continue to try and push him away, my lips freezing up and not letting him deepen this kiss besides his insistence.

"Hey!" Someone shouts from the doorway, not loudly enough for anyone inside to hear, but loudly enough for the man to back away from me. I look over at my savior hopefully and see that it's the boy from earlier—Ichigo-san.

"You get away from her, you creep!" He says, walking forward and picking up the other man by the collar, moving him out of the way and standing in front of me, his back to me.

"You stay out of this. What I do is none of your concern." The man says, trying to get past Ichigo-san.

"She was obviously not enjoying that, nor doing it willingly." Ichigo-san says, not moving.

"Besides," He continues. "Though there are some guys in there that are likely to want to take part in that, there are some strong women and an older brother in there that I'm pretty sure would not be very happy with what you're doing. Also, one rumor about something like that could give your father's business some unwanted attention. I would leave if I were you." The man looks at him for a second, then, with as much dignity as he can muster under the circumstances, he turns and goes back inside.

Ichigo-san turns around to me when he's sure that the guy is inside, and he holds out a handkerchief to me, his moody teenager look slightly softened.

"I'm not crying." I say, looking at the handkerchief he's offering me, wanting to giggle, but unable to because of the thought of what that guy might've done to me.

"Yeah, I know." He says, shaking the cloth square in front of my face. "I just have a feeling that douche doesn't taste very good." He smiles at me and I smile back, finally taking the square and wiping off my mouth.

XDXDXDXD

We stand out on the balcony, looking at the moon and talking, not really saying anything meaningful, but still, better that then the boring conversations we've both been a part of tonight. I find out that he goes to the highschool that I will be starting, and that we'll be in class together. He tells me that a boy from our school, Ishida Uryuu, should have been here, but he ended up not being able to come for some family reason. After an hour of chatting on the balcony like old friends, we head back inside and realize that the crowd has thinned out a little. We find Byakuya and Kurosaki-sensei talking together with a man with silver hair and glasses who I find out is Ishida Uryuu's dad. We leave soon after, but not before Ichigo secretly asks for—and _gets_—my cell phone number. He's cute, but I don't see us being anything more than friends. I actually have to tell Byakuya this on the way home; he goes into protective-brother- mode every once and a while.

When we get home, I drink half a small mug of broth, not able to eat the rest**. I say goodnight to Byakuya and the maids, then head upstairs to my room, going to sleep and actually not thinking about the creepy man until my dreams make me remember.

XDXDXDXD

****This will be explained in later chapters.**

**I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please, review. Tell me what you think! I know, I can't tell you what to do, but I **_**can **_**request. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 1

**About this Chapter: Yes, this one actually **_**is**_** a chapter. In this chapter, Rukia goes to the new highschool and makes some new friends. It's not really important to the story line, but it's important to know all of the characters XD**

**I would like to apologize for how long it has taken me to update. I went away for a week and was without all technology. I deeply apologize and will try to post the next few chapters in quick succession.**

**Disclaimer: Over the past however long it's been, I have not gained ownership of crap. Thanks again XD**

XDXDXDXD

"Are you ready yet, Rukia-Sama?" Asks my head maid, cracking open the door to my bedroom and looking through.

She's talking, of course, about my first day of school. I'm excited to meet new people, and I'm also excited to see Ichigo-San again. He seems like the type of person who will take me, illness and all, and treat me the same as he treats everybody else, which is really all I want**.

I check myself out one last time in my mirror, then head out the door, pushing past my maid. The uniform at the new school sucks, but I'll just have to deal with that; it's not the end of the world, I suppose.

"Will you be eating this morning?" The maid asks, scuttling on her short legs to catch up to me.

"No thank you, I'm fine." I say, and I head into the kitchen where Byakuya's sitting, drinking from a cup of coffee.

"Are you ready to go?" Byakuya asks, glancing up at me.

"Yes, Byakuya. Whenever you're ready, I'm ready to go." I say, sitting next to him and reading the description of the book he has sitting in front of him on the table. It's dark blue with silver lettering, and actually sounds rather interesting. Well, it's interesting for _me_; it's all about space.

"I thought that you said that studying the stars isn't important until it will save the world." I say to Byakuya. It takes him a second, but he realizes what I'm talking about when he sees me eyeing his book.

"Well, yes." He says, and I see him blush slightly. I don't want to make him uncomfortable, no matter how curious I may be, so I don't question into it.

"Whatever. You may read what you wish. I'll be out in the car." I say, and I leave out into the garage.

XDXDXDXD

The driver is off work today, so Byakuya is the one driving me to school. The semester started about a month ago, but I'm just starting today. I would have started sooner, but some medical things happened, and my doctor just said that I'm well enough to go to school. Even so, I have to sit out a few different classes, and I know that the teacher's won't be too happy about it. They especially won't be happy because it's the third and last year of highschool, the year of school where teachers want you to work as hard as you can and get great grades before college.

I eye Byakuya, trying to tell what he's thinking. He looks sort of nervous, and I smile.

"Everything's going to be fine, Byakuya." I say, and I look out the window. I see him glance over at me from the corner of my eyes.

"If anything happens, call home and I'll pick you up as soon as possible. Also, if you feel unwell, tell the teachers. They are all well aware of your situation, so they will let you go outside for some fresh air or to go drink some water if it is needed." He says, looking back at the road.

"Yes, Byakuya." I say. We drive ten more minutes or so in silence before we make it to the school. I leave before Byakuya can say anything else, not wanting him to worry out loud to me about anything. I look back at the car when I'm about ten feet away and see him looking at me through the window with a worried look on his face, so I turn back around and get into the building as quickly as I can without running—something I've been forbidden from doing.

I walk into the building of Karakura Highschool and look at a map. My locker is number 2-86, which is on the second floor near my homeroom. I follow the map and find it quickly. There are people everywhere—I had no idea the school is so big—but no one gives me a second glance, which is fine by me. I open up my locker with the combination I have hidden inside all of my folders, and I stuff everything inside. I put the books I'll be needing for the first few classes into a bag and then walk into the room in which all of my classes will be taking place.

Unlike at my previous school, all of the subjects are taught by the same teacher, not including gym and extra classes like sports and theater classes. I walk up to the person who will be my teacher for the rest of the year, a tall woman with a long brown pony tail and glasses who seems rather, well, silly. I stand in front of her desk for a moment, but she doesn't notice me, so I clear my throat quietly. She still doesn't notice me, so I tap her shoulder and she looks up at me.

"Why, hello!" She says, smiling hugely. "You must be the new student! I'm so happy to meet you! My name is Ochi Misato. You may call me Ochi-Sensei. I'll be your teacher this year!" She seems very happy, and shakes my hand vigorously. "Just wait here a moment. The bell will ring soon, so I can have you introduce yourself to the class then. After that I'll find you a seat." She looks around, counting the students to see if everyone's here yet, and then she seems to remember something.

"I can't believe I forgot!" She says, slapping her forehead and turning to me. "If you need anything, just tell me and I'll try and get it for you. Also, don't be embarrassed to tell me if you need to go outside or anything."

"Yes, thank you." I say, bowing.

Soon the bell rings, and the class settles down. I see Ichigo—rather hard to miss with the _orange hair_ (I still can't get over the color!)—and he waves at me. I wave back, but I can't talk to him because the teacher needs me to introduce myself.

"Class, settle down please." Ochi-Sensei shouts out, and everyone stops chatting.

"We have a new student joining us today. How about you introduce yourself?" She directs the last bit to me, and I nod.

I bow to the class. "My name is Kuchiki Rukia, Kuchiki meaning rotten wood and Rukia meaning light*******." I say while Ochi-Sensei writes it down in kanji on the blackboard **(A/N****朽木 ルキ****ア****is how you write her name in kanji)**. Most of the people in class smile at me, which makes me happy.

"Okay, Kuchiki." Ochi-Sensei says. "You can go sit next to Ichigo over there. He's the guy with the bright orange hair." She says, pointing, not knowing that I already know Ichigo.

"Thank you." I say, bowing, and I move over to sit next to Ichigo.

"Okay, now that everyone knows everyone, let's get going with class. Today we're going to start with last night's homework in math. Rukia, you can follow along to get an idea of what we're doing. Anyone who knows the answer to number 1…."

I listen to the class going over homework and have a pretty good idea of everything. I do a few sample problems from the homework the class had last night and get almost all of them right. Ichigo's actually really amazingly smart, and when watching him correct his homework, I didn't see him get a single problem wrong. When the teacher asks for someone to explain how to do a problem though, for some reason he never raises his hand. By the end of the first few periods I know pretty much what is going on, so I'm not very worried about the classes until we get to history; they're studying something I've only ever heard of a couple times in my life, let alone studied.

When the first classes of the day end and everyone goes out to their lockers to get the books for the rest of the day before lunch, I go up to Ochi-Sensei and ask her what I should do for history.

"Well, we've been studying this since the beginning of the school year, so I'm not really sure what to tell you. I suppose I could have someone tutor you…" She says, trailing off, lost in thought. She looks through some history quizzes she has on her desk, reading through them to find a good grade. She finally stops on one and smiles, then looks up at me.

"Kurosaki Ichigo. He's really good at history. I've seen your old grades, and I know you're very smart, so it shouldn't take long for you to understand this topic at all. I would say maybe three or four meetings with Kurosaki are all you'll need." She says. "I'll ask him if he'll tutor you later. Now, go get the rest of your books. We only have two more classes until lunch, and then the rest of the day goes by pretty quickly. I'll have his answer by the end of the day."

I smile at her and go out to my locker to get my books, then go back into the classroom and sit down, continuing on with the rest of my classes and counting the minutes for lunch break.

XDXDXDXD

Lunch break comes far too slowly, but when it does come I wish that it were already over because I have no idea where to go. I walk around with my light lunch bag, looking for a place to sit. I wonder outside, and after a few minutes find a tree that seems easy to climb. I'm not supposed to exert myself, or go up too high in case I faint and fall, but I climb up the tree anyway. I sit on a thick branch and pull out my lunch once I've settled down; half a piece of bread, a few almonds, a calcium chew, and an apricot. I start eating, finishing almost everything quickly, then look around.

I'm near a thin forest through which I can see some houses, and next to the tree is a trail to the school. I can see the main part of the school, and see some people sitting on the roof, eating their lunch. I spot some bright orange on the roof and see that it's Ichigo-San, probably sitting there with some of his friends. Next to the school are the gym and the outdoor track. There are some more kids sitting, eating their lunch on the track, probably kids from my class because we have gym next.

I look back up at the roof, looking for Ichigo-San's hair, but it's not there. Deciding that he probably went inside to get something, I settle back, leaning against the trunk of the tree and waiting for the bell to ring, signaling the end of lunch.

"OI!" Someone yells from the bottom of the tree, scaring me half to death and making me jump. I look over the edge of the trunk and see Ichigo-San standing there, looking up at me.

"Hello, Ichigo-San." I say, still looking down at him, breathing heavily because of the freight he gave me.

"Hey, Rukia." He says, ignoring honorifics. "Watcha doin'?" He asks.

"Eating lunch." I reply, holding up my near empty lunch sack to show him.

"Alone?"

"Yes."

"Ok." He says, and he bites down on the top of his own lunch sack, then climbs up the tree, ending up sitting across from me.

I look at him, and he pulls out a juice box, taking a sip out of it while staring back at me.

We continue to look at each other, him eating, neither of us saying anything, when his face gets suddenly irritated and he puts down his fork.

"Wouldya stop looking at me? It's weird. Also, I came up here to eat lunch with you out of the goodness of my heart, the least you can do is thank me and try to make conversation, baka!" He shouts at me, looking very important.

I look at him, surprised, when I regain my composure. I slap him and eat one of the almonds that I didn't finish before.

"Don't speak to a girl like that." I say, and he looks at me like he wants to slap me back.

"Fine." He says after a few moments, and he drinks some more from the juice box, sulking.

We sit there like that, Ichigo sulking, me wondering about what is wrong with him, when he suddenly speaks again.

"I talked to the teacher." He says, and I look at him out of the corner of my eye.

"And?" I ask, trying not to sound too interested.

"Well, she told me about how you're clueless and don't know anything about what we're doing in history, and she asked me to tutor you."

"And?" I ask again, keeping the intense irritation out of my voice.

"Well, I didn't want to, but she threatened to dye my hair black if I didn't, so now I have to." He says, looking at me. I stop myself from smiling, picturing Ochi-Sensei holding a box of dye in front of Ichigo.

"When?" I ask.

"When you stop asking one word questions." He says, taking a bite of curry rice.

I roll my eyes, sigh, and turn towards him.

"When will we get together for our tutoring session?" I ask, restraining from rolling my eyes again.

"When are you free?"

"Tomorrow after school." I answer after thinking for a moment.

"Tomorrow after school it is." He says. "I'll pick you up after school tomorrow and take you to my house where we'll study." Right as he says this the bell rings, and we hop out of the tree, heading to gym and throwing away our lunch things on the way.

XDXDXDXD

At the beginning of gym, I walk up to the teacher with Ichigo and hand the teacher, Kagine, a note from the doctor that was also signed by Byakuya that excuses me from gym class for the whole year. He reads the note, then looks up at me, then read the note again.

"Is there _anything_ you can do?" He asks me, and I think for a moment.

"I suppose I could lift really light weights." I say, and he sighs, rubbing his temples.

"Fine, I suppose that will just have to do. Go get changed in the locker room and come out here and I'll give you something to do." I nod and head to the girl's changing room.

I start to change, looking around at everyone. There aren't that many people in our class all together, so just the girls by themselves is a very small number of people. I look over and see four girls standing in a group and looking at me. Well, three of them are looking at me; the last one is reading from a book.

They soon all move over to where I'm standing, and I stop changing to look at them.

"Hi, you must be Kuchiki Rukia, am I right?" One of them, a girl with a short brown bob and brown eyes says. I nod. "I'm Ogawa Michiru, nice to meet you. This is Honsho Chizuru, Natsui Mahana, and Kunieda Ryo." She says, first gesturing to a girl with red hair and brown-grey eyes, then a girl with short brown hair styled like a boy's, and last to the girl who was—and still is—reading, who has long, straight black hair and slate grey eyes the same color as Byakuya's. I smile at them and bow, each of them bowing back at me.

"It's nice to meet you." I say, and they smile at me.

"We noticed that you were eating alone today until Kurosaki-Kun joined you and were wondering if tomorrow you would like to eat lunch with us?" Mahana-San says, and I smile and nod enthusiastically.

"I would love to." I say, and they all look happy.

We exit the changing room together once everyone is in their gym uniform and we go outside. I learn that the four girls have been friends since they were really little, and at first I feel slightly intrusive in their group, but they soon make it known that they are happy to know someone new.

Once outside, I walk up to the gym teacher and he tells me where to go. I end up going to the indoor weight room alone, doing what it says to do on a little sheet of paper that Kagine gave me.

XDXDXDXD

After gym finally ends, I go back to the original class and sit down. The rest of the school day goes by, and before I know it the end-of-school bell is ringing and I'm being surrounded by the four girls I met in the locker room, Ryo-San _still_ reading. We talk and laugh a bit, but then I spot Byakuya's car parked out in front of the school and hurry and leave.

I'm halfway through the building when Ichigo walks up next to me and keeps pace with my speed.

"Don't forget tomorrow, Rukia." He says, looking ahead. "I'll call you tonight and tell you the details."

"Okay, Ichigo-Sensei." I say in a mocking tone, but before he can answer—most likely rudely—I speed up as much as I can and go out into the car in which Byakuya awaits me.

XDXDXDXD

I sit on my bed, surrounded by my school books, doing my homework. I'm answering the last math question when my phone rings. I jump out of freight and start coughing. After a few minutes of coughing, I pick up my phone and press redial without looking at who it was that called.

"_Rukia?" _I hear a voice say on the other end.

"Hi. You call?" I say, realizing that it's Ichigo on the line.

"_Yeah. I was just calling to ask you about tomorrow. Is four fine? Do you need more time before I pick you up, or will that be okay?" _He asks.

"I think that four o'clock will be great. Also, should I bring my other homework so we can do it together, or just my history?"

"_What, you need tutoring in your other subjects, too? What, are you an idiot or something? You know what, don't answer that."_

"Haha." I say sarcastically. "I just thought we could do our homework together. Believe me; I don't need help with the other stuff."

"_If you say so. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then. Can you give me your address really quickly?"_

"Sure." I say. I give him my address and we talk for a little bit, but then he has to go to eat dinner and I get off the phone, going back to doing my homework.

XDXDXDXD

****I'm going to see how many people actually read this this by telling you what I mean by Rukia's illness here in the author's notes. If only half of my readers understand what's going on, then, well, SUCKS FOR YOU, PEOPLE WHO DON'T READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTES! MUAHAHA! Anyways, evil laughter aside… In my story, Rukia has the same thing that Hisana had before she died. As I don't think it was ever specified what Hisana had, so I'm just going to give her random symptoms that Hisanan had and some that she didn't have and say that no one knows what it is. Kk, thanks for reading—if anyone is actually reading this XD**

***** I looked it up. Rukia is the Italian name Lucia meaning 'light' being pronounced in Japanese. Kuchiki, translated directly, means 'rot', or 'wood', or 'rotten wood'. When asked, Tite Kubo says that her name means Rottonwood Light. Just thought I'd clear that up and let you know that I'm not completely making this up.**

**I wanted to apologize for something. I just read the prologue of this story before writing this chapter, and I realized that there are a **_**lot**_** of mistakes near the end. In my defense, I wrote that all in one day, and by in one day I mean in one night, meaning that I was tired while writing the second half. I know, excuses excuses. I'll try to edit better this time. P.S. If you ever notice bad grammar or punctuation or spelling or anything, please feel free to point it out in a review and I'll try to fix it.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please, review the story by pressing the button that is bellow and to the right of this line. ThanksXD**


	3. Chapter 2

**About this chapter: In this chapter, Rukia and Ichigo have their first tutoring session, which I am intending on making rather chaotic (in a good way). Also, something happens in school. Lastly, I introduce Orihime. Let's just say that she's sorta kinda really OOC. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I talked to a lawyer about this. He pretty much said that I own crap when it comes to Bleach, only in nicer words. Stupid lawyer….**

XDXDXDXD

When I am done with my homework, I join Byakuya for dinner. I eat a little bit, but not very much. He asks me all about my day, and I tell him about the girls I met in the locker room and about Ichigo eating lunch with me. Finally I tell him about the history thing, and about how I'll be going over to Ichigo's house so he can help me. Byakuya seems less irritated about me needing to be tutored than he does about me going over to a guy's house, which amuses me slightly. I remind him that Kurosaki-Sensei will be there, so he shouldn't worry, but he only laughs at this.

"Isshin is one of the biggest perverts I've ever met. I'm actually more worried about him than I am about Ichigo." Byakuya says, taking a drink of red wine from his glass.

I laugh at this and roll my eyes, wondering what I'll be able to say to make him feel better.

"Doesn't Ichigo have two little sisters? I don't think anything'll happen with them there. Is that enough for you?" I ask, smiling at him. He looks at me and laughs.

"I know that you're smart enough to make good decisions. I'm not worried."

We finish dinner talking about this-and-that, and when he's done eating I go upstairs and get ready for bed, going to sleep earlier than usual so I'll be well rested for tomorrow.

XDXDXDXD

I wake up to my alarm blaring. I have a chappy clock, but the alarm on that thing is so annoying that I only use it as a decoration for my room and use a different clock for my alarm. I press the power button, turning it off, and roll out of bed. I stand and stretch, then get dressed quickly, brushing my teeth and brushing my hair when I'm done. I look at my hair, straight black hair until the bottom where it curves out awkwardly. I've never really liked my hair, and I make a mental note to get an appointment to have it cut differently.

I walk out into the hallway where the head maid waits for me.

"Is there anything I can do for you today, ma'am?" She asks.

"No, thanks." I say, but then I stop remembering, my hair.

"Never mind. You used to be a hairdresser, correct?" I ask, and she nods.

"Okay, then there _is _something you can do."

XDXDXDXD

Twenty minutes later, my hair has been cut so that it goes down straight, ending a few inches above the shoulder, the awkward curve gone, and I've showered to get any hairs off of me.

"Thank you." I say to the maid. "It's very nice. Exactly how I wanted it." She seems very happy that I like her work because she smiles a huge smile and bows. I smile back at her and walk into the garage where Byakuya awaits me in his car, ready to take me to school.

"Very nice." He says when he sees my hair. "You don't look very much like Hisana anymore. It's nice."

I smile at him and look out the window, feeling my hair. Hisana is my deceased older sister. She left our family to be with Byakuya when I was very young, and because they moved far away I never saw her. Because of this, I didn't really know her, only that we looked exactly alike and that she died from the same decease that I have.

We pull up to the school after the twenty minutes or so of driving, and I give Byakuya a kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car and going inside.

I go to my locker and put away most of my books, only keeping out the one's I'll need for the first few periods. When I have everything, I head into the classroom and sit down at my desk, pulling out a book, intending to read.

As soon as I've found my place in the book and have started reading, a shadow blocks out my light, and I look up to see Ichigo standing over me, scowling.

"May I help you?" I ask after a moment.

"I just wanted to remind you about tonight." He says, and he walks away.

I pick up my book again, choosing to ignore his interruption, but before I can even being to read, Mahan-San, Michiru-San, Chizuru-San, and Ryo-San all walk over. Mahan-San knocks my book out of my hands and looks at me expectantly while the other three girls make themselves comfortable by sitting on the desks around mine.

"Well?" Mahana-San asks, and I just stare at her, dumbfounded.

"What did _Kurosaki Ichigo_ want?" She asks, and I laugh; I can only imagine what it must seem like to four teenage girls, having him come up to me first thing in the morning when I've only been at school for about four minutes.

"What's so funny?" Mahana-San asks, getting irritated, and Michiru-San moves her out of the way, getting up from the desk in front of mine and sitting on top of mine instead.

"Would you mind telling us, Rukia-Chan?" She asks sweetly.

I decide that telling them will be less complicated than _not _telling them, so I explain the whole history situation. They seem rather disappointed that it isn't anything scandalous or romantic, but besides that they seem to understand.

"Oh my goodness, I _just_ realized!" Chizuru-San exclaims when I'm done telling them about Ichigo-San. "You cut your hair! It looks really great on you, Ruki-Kun!" She says, eyeing me rather too lustfully for my liking.

"Yeah. I noticed that." Says Ryo-San. "It looks really nice."

They talk about my hair for a little bit, and then Michiru-San, Mahana-San, and Chizuru-San talk about hair products and hair styles they've seen on different celebrities while Ryo-San and I sit there listening—it's not really our first choice in conversation topic, but it's still fun to listen to the three of them argue over what haircuts they like the best on who and which magazines give the best tips. I'm about to pick up my book again when the bell rings, and our little group disperses as the sensei walks in.

"Well, kidos. Let's start by taking role call!" She says, starting to call out different names.

XDXDXDXD

Class gets up to get the books for the next few periods before lunch, and Ochi-Sensei stops me before I can leave.

"Did Ichigo talk to you?" She asks.

"Yes, thank you." I say, understanding what she's talking about. "We're going to meet tonight after school and he's going to start explaining things to me."

She seems pleased with this, and she goes back to doing some paperwork at her desk, dismissing me.

XDXDXDXD

The next few periods before lunch pass quickly, and before I know it I'm standing up to go to lunch. I grab my stuff and close my locker. When I shut my locker, someone's standing next to it where I couldn't see them because of the open locker door, startling me momentarily. I start to cough, as happens when I get scared or startled, and because I'm coughing so hard I can't get enough air in and start to feel light-headed. I collapse onto my knees, and I feel liquid on my hands and look at them to see blood that must have come from my throat. I try to motion for someone to help me, not really sure what they would be able to do, and I feel someone pick me up and start running with me somewhere in the school. People are whispering all around us, no doubt wondering what's happening, but I'm still coughing, and can't take in what's happening around me******.

I hear a door being opened and feel myself being lied down on a hard mattress, and then I hear some hurried voices. I look up and blink some tears out of my eyes and see someone who seems like she's my teacher—I can't really tell because of the lack of oxygen traveling to my brain not letting my eyes function properly—and I see a bright patch of orange that must be Ichigo-San. Next to them I see someone whose silhouette I can't place, and I guess that it's the school nurse.

I hear some more whispers and a worried-sounding Ichigo ask what's going on, and then I see the unknown silhouette go over to a desk and mess around with something that sounds like a bunch of papers.

"How about you go on to class, Kurosaki? I'll take care of things here, alright?" Ochi-Sensei says in a calming voice.

"No." Ichigo-San says stubbornly. "I'm not leaving until she's okay, or at least until I know what's going on."

"We can't tell you that, boy." Says the nurse, and I hear that it's a male. "The only person who can tell you that is a member of the Kuchiki family, as I'm afraid that it's classified information that they do not wish for anyone to know."

"Then I'm not leaving." Ichigo says, and I see him sit down, along with some black dots flashing here-and-there in my vision. I try to make hand motions to let it known that it's getting worse—I'm still coughing violently—and the nurse hurries over, quickly injecting something into my arm with a needle. He then lifts me into a sitting position with his arm and gestures for someone to come over and keep me held up while he gets something. Before Ochi-Sensei can move, Ichigo-San comes over and keeps me held up with just one arm. The nurse returns moments later with a far-too familiar liquid that he pours into my throat. He then holds my mouth closed—which would, I assume, look rather strange to any onlooker—while I swallow. It tastes horrible, but my throat feels better instantly, and I slowly quit coughing.

I take a few gasping breaths, taking in as much oxygen as possible so try and make up for the small amount I've been getting the past few minutes, and after a little while I start to feel normal again. I look up at the people around me and see that I was correct; Ochi-Sensei, Ichigo-San, and a short man with short brown hair with a tag on his shirt that says 'Karakura High School Nurse' all standing around me. Ochi-Sensei and Ichigo-San look worried, but the nurse man just seems irritated, like I've been wasting his time.

"Thank you." I try to say, but it sounds more like a choking walrus.

"Don't talk; you'll make it worse. Baka." Says the nurse. He turns back to his desk and sits down, starting on some paperwork.

I notice that some tears are falling out of my eyes because of coughing so hard, and Ichigo-San seems to notice the same thing. He holds out a handkerchief and smiles mockingly.

"Déjà vu." He says, and I hit his arm as hard as I can in this state, then I snatch the handkerchief from his hands and dab at my eyes.

XDXDXDXD

It takes a bit of convincing, but finally Ochi-Sensei—and Ichigo-San—decide that I'm well enough to get back to class, even though the nurse said that I was fine straight away. Ochi-Sensei runs ahead to make sure the classroom isn't in total chaos, and Ichigo-San walks with me, glancing at me when he thinks I won't notice to make sure I'm not dying or anything like that.

"So." He says after a moment. "That happen often?"

"Yes." I respond truthfully, and he seems rather surprised, like he was just being sarcastic, as I'm sure he was. "It's a long story that I don't want to get into." I say. He seems to understand—he _is_, after all, the son of a doctor; I'm sure he's been through similar situations—and doesn't question into it. Unfortunately, I'm not so fortunate when it comes to the other students in class; they all rush up to me, even with Ochi-Sensei yelling at them to calm down, and ask me millions of questions. I end up holding my arms up in front of me, crossing them like an 'x' in front of my body to show that I'm not talking about it***.

I go to my locker and pull out my things for lunch, and go outside. I sit down under a tree and soon Michiru-San, Chizuru-San, Ryo-San, and Mahana-San join me, sitting around me in a circle. We begin to eat, and I can tell that they want to know what happened, but I don't supply any information, choosing instead to talk about other things and act as if nothing happened. They go along with it, but I know that they're thinking of ways to find out the truth.

When we're about halfway through lunch and everyone's laughing at a funny story Chizuru-San is telling, everyone stops and looks behind me, their smiles gone. I turn around, still smiling, to see three kids from our class looking down at me. I remember their names from when they were called in class; Sado-San, Inoue-San, and Arisawa-San. They never talk to anyone but each other, unless it's terrorizing someone for money or whatnot. It's strange, because looking at Inoue-San, she seems so sweet and polite, but she's the leader of their little group.

"We just wanted to say that we were not impressed with your little stunt today, you yariman. We all know that that was just for attention. Kutabare, baka." Inoue-San says, and she turns around and leaves, Sado-San and Arisawa-San following. When they're gone, I get up and walk into the building with as much dignity as I can muster, and as soon as I'm in the building I go as quickly as I can into the bathroom, where I stay, crying, the rest of lunch.

XDXDXDXD

When lunch is over I go back into the classroom where I see Mahana-San yelling at Inoue-San and Chizuru-San hitting Sado-San to no avail. Ryo-San and Arisawa-San are having a glare-off that I think Ryo-San might win, and Michiru-San is sitting on my desk, talking to Ichigo. She's obviously telling him what happened during lunch because he looks like he might just rip someone's head off.

"I swear, I'll—" Ichigo starts, but he's cut off by Ochi-Sensei walking into the classroom while the bell rings. Everyone sits at their seats, but my friends don't stop glaring at the members of Inoue-San's 'gang'. The teacher seems to notice the tension, but she doesn't do anything, just continues to teach.

XDXDXDXD

"Rukia!" Ichigo-San says when school ends. I turn around and look at him, forcefully changing my sad expression to one of irritation.

"Who said you could call me that?" I ask, trying to sound annoyed.

"Even if you say I can't, I'm still going to call you Rukia, so get used to it, Rukia." He says, and I roll my eyes, turn around, and continue out of the school. He follows after me, keeping pace with my steps.

"So, I'll pick you up later?" He asks.

"You've confirmed this at least a million times. If you're having difficulty remembering that I _am_ coming over tonight, I'm not so sure if I can trust you to remember everything you've learned in history this year. Maybe I should find someone else."

"Stop being so cold hearted, Rukia. I'm just making sure, geez. I won't confirm at all next time." Ichigo says mockingly, and he speeds up when we get outside, running to his car and waving. I wave back and head to the car the driver brought to pick me up.

XDXDXDXD

"You're going over to a boy's house?" Yells our youngest maid when she finds out that I'm going over to Ichigo's house.

"Yes." I say quietly, pulling off my school uniform.

"Well, then you can't just wear that plain turquoise dress! You need to wear something nicer then that!" She says, trying to grab the dress out of my hands.

"Please, Matsumoto!" I yell, pulling hard on the dress and falling back. "It's not anything worth dressing up over. He's rather obnoxious, and the only reason I'm willingly going over to his house is because my teacher said that I have to so that I can learn everything from history class!" I say from my spot on the floor. She makes a pouty face but still helps me up. I slip on the dress and look at myself in the mirror. It's a plain turquoise dress with black lines on it. It's casual but well-presented, which is the look I'm going for; in other words, it's a 'this is only a study session, if you even try and make the moves I'll slap you silly' kind of look.

"Rukia-Sama?" Says the head maid from the doorway.

"Yes?"

"The young man is here, ready to take you to his house."

I grab my backpack and slowly walk out of my room and down the stairs to the front door. I see Byakuya and Ichigo having a conversation, and when I get closer I hear that they're speaking about a new medicine that was just put out for use. Apparently Kurosaki-Sensei doesn't think that it's a very good new medicine, and Byakuya's asking about why. When they see me they stop talking and I get into Ichigo's car.

He has a sleek black car that is a little too… nice for his personality. He sees me looking around while we drive to his house and he laughs at me.

"It's my idiot father's car. I thought that it would be better to bring this instead of my beat up old truck." He says, and I smile; a beat up truck seems much more his style than this nice black car.

We get to his house after about half an hour of driving. It looks like a clinic from the outside—actually, it even _says_ 'Kurosaki Clinic' on the outside. It is no doubt his house though, because we pull into the driveway and head inside. When we get inside I see that it's a nice, quaint little house. I take off my shoes and walk further in, going into a room that is a connection of a kitchen, a living room, and a dining room. Sitting on the couch in the living room part are two girls who seem about ten years old. In front of them stands Kurosaki-Sensei, who is doing a little weird dance while one of the girls insults him and the other asks him politely to stop.

All three look up at us when we walk in, and immediately Kurosaki-Sensei's face lights up.

"Why, hello, Rukia-San! How are you today?" He asks, running up to me and giving me a hug. He then quickly aims a punch at Ichigo, who moves out of the way and kicks Kurosaki-Sensei's knees, forcing him to fall to the ground. While I watch this happen, stunned, the two girls walk up to me.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." One of them says, bowing. "My name is Yuzu."

"Hello, Yuzu-San. It's very nice to meet you." I say, returning the bow.

"Hey. My name is Karin." Says the other, nodding. I bow at her, too, hiding a smile; she's just like Ichigo.

"Yuzu, let's go play." Karin-San says, grabbing her sister's arm and pulling her upstairs before Yuzu can say anything.

"Daddy wants to play, too!" Yells Kurosaki-Sensei from his spot on the ground where Ichigo is kicking him. He jumps up and runs up the stairs after Karin-San and Yuzu-San, where I hear a door slam and Kurosaki-Sensei start complaining about how his daughters don't love him anymore.

"Sorry about that. I told you he's an idiot." Ichigo says, directing me to the couch where I sit down.

"Would you like something to drink before we start?" He asks, and I shake my head.

"No, thanks. I'm fine." I respond, and he sits down next to me, setting his backpack on the ground. I follow suit and put mine next to his, opening it up so that the books are easy to reach.

"Okay, so here are my notes from the first day of class." He says, holding up a notebook to show small, neat handwriting that makes me feel bad about the messy handwriting that runs in the family.

"As you can see, we didn't really learn a lot the first day, but once you turn to the _second_ day…" He goes into detail about what our class has learned, not sparing me anything about anything. By the end of the first hour I feel like my brain is ready to overload, yet when he quizzes me I remember everything rather well.

"Okay." He says. "I need some water; I've been talking too much." He says, and I nod. He stands up, and I stand up too, deciding to keep him company while he gets his water instead of sitting at the couch awkwardly. I decide to walk over the backpacks instead of going around, and when I lift up my foot it gets stuck on part of the backpack, making me fall. I take a sharp intake of breath and Ichigo turns around in time for me to fall onto him, knocking us both down. I open my eyes to see that we're chest-to-chest on the ground, noses not even centimeters away from each other's. I feel myself blush and see his cheeks turn red, too. I'm about to get up when Kurosaki-Sensei rushes down the stairs. Upon seeing us, he runs over and kicks Ichigo's head, though Ichigo doesn't really seem to notice.

"Ichigo!" Kuroski-Sensei yells at his son. "At least take her on a date first!"

"You baka!" Ichigo yells. He easily lifts me up off of him and places me on the couch, making me blush even harder, though—thankfully—neither of them seem to notice. Ichigo then proceeds to chase Kurosaki-Sensei around the house, the latter of whom has already called Byakuya and started telling him what's happened. So much for not sitting on the couch awkwardly. I pull out my phone and send a text to Mahana-San, Chizuru-San, Ryo-San, and Michiru-San, saying that they will not believe what has already happened at my first tutoring lesson with Kurosaki Ichigo.

XDXDXDXD

**** Well, I **_**was**_** going to have this chapter all airy and easy-to-read and happy, but then **_**this**_** happened. So sorry! It'll be happier later. Try and guess who's carrying Rukia? Ah, young love. **

***** Ahahaha, Grimmi Grantz XD Sorry, other readers; it's an inside joke.**

**I really hate writing honorifics. It's hard! And annoying! And irritating! And also hard! Also, my internet went out earlier, and I wanted to look up something about honorifics, and I ended up having to take my best guess instead—let's just hope I'm right (don't judge; they're hard to understand!)!**

**Thanks for reading this chapter and the story so far! Please feel free to leave a review, because if you don't I will have absolutely NO idea what people think about my story, meaning that if I'm making the same mistake a lot, then I can't fix it and then you will have to read the same exact typo in every single chapter, which I know from experience is not very nice!**** You know what, scratch that. I am going to be a butt. I will not post the next chapter- and I know exactly how it is going to play out so it will not take too long for me to write it- until I get more reviews! I only have two reviews, and it makes me feel like my writing sucks, which is **_**not**_** a really good feeling at all. Please review, or else I will hold the rest of the story hostage FOREVER! MUAHAHAHA. That, or I may just write the last chapter of the story and post it without anyone knowing the difference. Then you'll know that (Insert ending here) happens. Don't worry; I'm not actually going to do that. At least, probably not. Just, please, review. Now. As you're reading this. DO IT! I HAVE THE STORY HOSTAGE! JUST BE GLAD THAT I'M NOT DEMANDING MONEY FOR THIS POOR HOSTAGE STORY! Oo, I should do that next time… **_**IDEA**_**! **

**On a more serious note… REVIEW GOSH DARN IT!**

**~Otakulove67 (who happens to be in a strange mood as she writes this; that's probably why the last paragraph is so long…)**


	4. Chapter 3

**About this chapter: In this chapter a lot of shiz happens. Just read.**

**Thank you everyone for the reviews! They made me feel great. Also, I'd like to apologize for taking so long to update; someone I know at my school pretty much told me my writing sucks, so I had a lower in self-confidence for a while and couldn't write anything not for school. Sorry again!**

**Disclaimer: Must I say it again? Crap=What I own.**

XDXDXDXD

I sit on my bed, reading, many months after my first visit with Ichigo, thinking about that evening rather long ago at the Kurosaki household. I blush a deep red thinking about it and try to concentrate harder on the book. I look at the clock and, seeing that it's getting late, put down the book and turn out the light, lying down under the covers. After a few minutes of lying in bed, waiting for sleep to come, I hear my door open; I turn around to see who it is and see Byakuya standing there.

"Rukia?" He asks, sitting at the edge of my bed.

"Yes, Byakuya?" I reply, wondering what he's doing.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I had a bad feeling that something was happening. I suppose I was just worrying unnecessarily." He says, already getting up to leave. "Goodnight." He says on his way out.

"Goodnight."

XDXDXDXD

I decided to get up early and walk to school. I got up before anyone else and left a note on my bed, saying that I'd call when I get to school.

It's raining out, but I like the feeling of moisture all around me. I have my umbrella, but it's not really raining hard enough to pull it out yet. I follow a map that I took from Byakuya's car, following the fastest way to the school. Unfortunately, the fastest way to school doesn't go through the best part of town, but I'll just walk quickly to try and get out of this area soon.

I walk by an alleyway and at first nothing seems strange, but then I hear a male screaming and turn around, running back to see what's happening. I crouch behind a trashcan and look around it to see three figures surrounding a forth figure. One of the three pulls something from the chest of the forth and wipes it on their shirt, and I stifle a scream. I get up, not thinking, and start to run away. My feet make loud splashes in the rain on the ground, and I hear someone following me. I can hear from how loud the splashes are that the person following me is much larger than me, meaning that their legs will be longer than mine, meaning that they'll be faster than me, meaning that—

I feel large arms wrap around my waist, and I try to scream, but something knocks me out before I can.

XDXDXDXD

**Ichigo's Point of View**

_That midget… making me worry about her. There's probably nothing wrong, she's just sitting at home because she didn't want to come to school today or something._ I think. I think this, but inside I know it's not true. It's lunch time already, and she isn't here. If she's not just ditching—which I know Byakuya would never let her do in the first place—then she's probably sick, and, thinking about what happens when someone only startles her, it can't be good. I stand up as the lunch bell rings and go near the door. I open my locker and hear my cell phone going off. I look at it and see that it's the Kuchiki household calling, so I answer.

"Please tell me she's with you." I say at the same time as Byakuya. I hear him sigh a worried, agitated sigh and know that something's going on.

"What's wrong, Byakuya? Where is she?" I ask, trying to keep the panic from my voice. Rukia and I have become close over the past few months, and I don't want anything to happen to her.

"I really wish I knew, Ichigo. So she hasn't come to school yet?" Byakuya says, obviously forcing calm.

"No. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"Well, I woke up today and found a note on her bed saying that she wanted to walk to school. At the end she said she'd call when she got to school, but she hasn't called and she never forgets this kind of thing." Byakuya says, his voice cracking a couple of times.

"This isn't good." I say, looking out the window and thinking about the rain and how it might've made her sick.

"Is there anything else you can tell me, Byakuya? I'm going to go looking for her."

"The only thing I can think of is that she's rather impatient; she probably took the fastest route possible to get to school from our house. The police are coming now, so you don't need to go anywhere. Please, tell me if you hear anything, Ichigo." He says, and he hangs up. I close my phone and slam my locker, then run out of the school as fast as I can, going into the worst part of town; the fastest way to Rukia's from the school.

XDXDXDXD

**Rukia's Point Of View**

I open my eyes slowly, unable to see much; whether it's because of the obvious damage done to my head, or because of the dim lighting in the room, I do not know. All I know is that I can see the silhouettes of three people and nothing else.

"Looks like the princess is awake," says a voice from the direction of the silhouettes. The voice is familiar, but I can't place it. I hear a deep chuckle and a high-pitched giggle.

"What's going on?" I try to say, but it sounds more like 'wagoinnn'.

"What's that, princess? I didn't hear you." Says a different voice that is also familiar. Someone walks up to me and strokes my chin lightly, sending a bad kind of shiver down my spine. The person walks into a slight pool of dim light and I see with shock that it's Inoue Orihime from school. I gasp, and she smiles an evil grin.

"W-What are you doing, Inoue-San?"

Her crazed smile falters and slowly disappears, turning into a scowl even crazier than the smile. She slaps me across my face, my head wrenching to the side from the force. Because of this I realize that I'm strapped with leather bands to a seat but, I'm more worried about Inoue-San who's started screaming.

"Who said you could use my name, huh?" She screams, eyes wide, expression rabid. She hits me again and the other two silhouettes move forward and pull her back, and I see that they're Sado-San and Tatsuki-San. They whisper to her, and she slowly calms down, another crazy smile spreading across her face from whatever the two are saying to her. She starts to cackle, and I shiver again.

"You two are right." She says when she's done, and she looks up at me. "It's only a matter of time."

XDXDXDXD

**Ichigo's Point Of View**

_Crap… Where is she? _I think, running through the allies in town, trying to find something that will point me in the direction of where Rukia might be.

I run and run and run, possibly going in circles, possibly going straight, not really sure. I try to calm down, but I can't keep the feeling of terror of what might have happened to Rukia from my stomach.

"Rukia!" I yell, hoping to hear anything at all; a whimper would even be good. I continue to run, and finally hear something, though it's not really what I want to hear; a scream. It's deep, but feminine; Rukia's.

I run in the direction of the scream and end up in front of a dirty, decrepit warehouse. I hear her scream again and rush inside, going in the direction of the scream.

XDXDXDXD

**Rukia's Point Of View**

"What do you mean, 'only a matter of time'?" I ask, but Orihime just smiles.

"Tell me what you're talking about, Inoue! What do you mean? " I scream. Inoue's face shows slight shock when I scream but it quickly changes to her normal hysterical grin.

"You saw what happened earlier, didn't you, princess?" She asks, and I think back to when I saw them stab that man through the chest, obviously killing him. I gulp, and that seems like enough of an answer for Inoue-San.

"Yeah, we can't exactly have you going around telling people that we killed someone, so we're going to have to take care of you now." Faster than I can blink, she rushes up to me, a dagger to my neck. "How do you want to die, princess?"

I can't help it but scream.

XDXDXDXD

I feel the cold of a pistol pressed against my temple, and tears fall freely without sound. I want to beg and scream, but pride gets in the way; I just sit, waiting to be killed.

"Any last words?"******

I press my lips together tightly and close my eyes, shaking my head. I sense her hand tense and brace myself for the blow, wondering if I'll be able to feel it of if life will just end instantly.

I hear a loud thump, followed by a quieter one. Moments later, the gun is gone from my head and I hear a third and final thump. Someone embraces me and I feel them shudder into me. I gasp lightly as I take in the familiar scent of my savior, knowing instantly that it is Kurosaki Ichigo.

XDXDXDXD

****Aha, some of the most stereotypical evil-doer words ever :P**

**Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it! Sorry it was really short. There are only… two (?) chapters left to this story, and both are going to be reeeallly short. I hope you'll continue reading until the end, even though. **

**Please review! I'll try to post faster next time. **

**Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 4

**About this Chapter: Umm, this chapter is sad :( Sorry, folks!**

**Disclaimer: Wow, this crap piling up is really starting to smell bad -_-**

XDXDXDXD

**Ten Years Later; Narrator's Point Of View**

Ten years have passed since Rukia was kidnapped and almost killed by Inoue Orihime, Arisawa Tatsuki, and Sado Yasutora. Since then, Ichigo and Rukia have become first happily engaged, then happily married. Soon after their marriage, Rukia became pregnant and Ichigo left to join the military to support his family.

At first the news of Ichigo's joining the army filled Rukia with sadness, but after he was gone for a few months working she figured that as long as he came home safely she would be fine waiting for him.

While Ichigo was gone, Rukia found out that their child was to be a girl, and decided that she would be named Masaki after Ichigo's mother, no exceptions. Every day, Rukia spent at least an hour in her garden outside their small-town home, taking care of her flowers and vegetables, speaking to her unborn child to pass the time. Unfortunately she could not do anything more than that because her condition had worsened over time, especially with having to take care of the child within her.

Three days ago, Rukia was in her garden when she leaned down to pull a weed out of a batch of flowers. Before she could stop it, she doubled over, feeling something rip inside of her. The doctors managed to save Kurosaki Masaki the second, but they could not save Rukia. A mixture of her disease and the strain of pregnancy took its toll, and she is now gone.

XDXDXDXD

"Kurosaki, I have some news for you." The general says to Ichigo, pulling him aside from the rest of the people in the room. All the other people can see is the general saying something to Ichigo, who looks devastated. The general pats him on the shoulder and allows Ichigo to go into his quarters, giving him some time by himself.

"What's going on?" A man asks the woman sitting next to him.

"I heard that his wife just died giving birth." She replies, shooting a sympathetic glance at the room in which Ichigo just disappeared.

"Poor lad…"

Ichigo sits in the room, head in hands, tears streaming down his cheeks, teeth clenched together.

"Rukia." He breathes, a shudder racking his body.

XDXDXDXD

**Rukia's Point Of View**

I open my eyes and see only white.

"Hello" Says a voice—to me, the voice of an angel. "Welcome to Soul Society."

XDXDXDXD

**Thanks everyone for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please review and check out my other writing! Thanks again!**

**Peace!~Otakulove67**


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